Marmol rises to occasion

Cubs closer fans Rodriguez to end 8th and Dickerson to finish up 14th save in dramatic fashion

June 17, 2011|By Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune reporter

Alex Rodriguez stands at home plate after striking out against Carlos Marmol (left) to end the 8th. (Phil Velasquez, Chicago Tribune)

The standing-room only crowd of 42,219 was on its feet in the eighth inning Friday when Carlos Marmol strode in from the bullpen to face Alex Rodriguez.

Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira had just drove in the first run of the day off reliever Sean Marshall and manager Mike Quade didn't hesitate on calling for Marmol to notch a four-out save, something he's reluctant to do.

Marmol, who still has tire tracks on his back from Carlos Zambrano throwing him under the bus after he blew a game June 5 in St. Louis, was hoping for a matchup like the one against Rodriguez, who represented the tying run.

What happened? Marmol struck out Rodriguez on a 93 mph fastball, then stranded the tying runs in the ninth when he struck out Chris Dickerson to notch his 14th save in the Cubs' 3-1 victory.

Catcher Koyie Hill said Marmol had the best stuff he has seen from him all year and thought the crowd noise factored in as well.

"His is a high intensity role," Hill said. "And the crowd is standing up, and it being loud out there, I'm sure it has to help."

Marmol's strikeout of Rodriguez may have been the loudest it's been at Wrigley this year, or perhaps the loudest since 2008. But Marmol had no clue about the decibel level, because he was simply focusing on A-Rod.

"I don't even listen to the crowd, man, especially when I have a hitter like that up," he said. "Just try to focus the best I can. The crowd, I appreciate them and I always said I love when they (stand up) with two strikes. I'm just glad I struck him out."